Clutch mechanism for transmission-gearing.



G. W. PARKER.

CLUTCH MECHANISM FOR TRANSMISSION GBARING.

APPLIOATION FILED 1111.4, 1910.

982,855. Patented Jan. 31, 1911.

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CLUTCH MECHANISM FOR TRANSMISSION GEABING.

I APPLICATION FILED JAN.4,1910. 982,855

Patented Jan. 31, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- WITNESSES:

' i ATT RNEYS transmissiongearing of the type employed UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

CLARK W. PARKER, 01 SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PARKER TRANS- MISSION & APPLIANCE COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CLUTCH MECHANISM FOR TRANSMISSION-GEARING.'

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 31, 1911.

Application filed January 4, 1910. Serial No. 536,335.

To all whom c'tmay concern.'-

Be it known that I, CLARK W. PARKER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Springfield, county of Hampden, and State of Massachusetts, have in- Vented certain new and useful Improvements in Clutch Mechanism for Transmission- Gearing, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to improvements in for transmitting driving movements at variable speeds and in different directions from the driving to the driven elements of motor vehicles and the like, and particularly to transmission gearing of this character in which heavy jaw clutches are employed for changing the speed ratio or the direction of drive; and specifically my inventiomconsists' in a novel construction and arrangement of clutch mechanism and operating means therefor wherein the movable ,clutch ele ments may yield with respect to the part carrying them, whereby the operating element may be immediately moved to a final position and the clutches permitted to complete' their operative movements thereafter. This not only permits greater flexibility of operation but also provides for the movement of. one clutch element in advance of the other where a plurality of clutches'are simultaneously operated by the same operating element.

Inorder that my invention may be thoroughly understood, I ,willnow proceed to describe an embodiment thereof, having reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating the same, and will then point out the novel features in claims. 7

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a View in central horizontal section through transmis-f v sion gearing. embodying my invention. Fig.

2 is a view in vertical transverse section therethrough, substantially upon the plane of the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top view of the operating means for the trans mission gearing, with the hand lever in transverse section. Fig. 4 is a view in vertical longitudinal section through the 0 erating means, substantially upon the p ane of the line 44 of Fig.

The transmission gearing as a whole comprises a drivingshaft 5, a driven shaft'G,

and a counter shaft 7 The driving shaft carries a driving pinion 8, the teeth of which are in mesh with the teeth of the spur gear 9 upon the counter shaft 7. Loosely -mounted upon the said counter shaft are three gear wheels 10-11-12, the gear wheel 10 being arranged in mesh with a complementary gear wheel 13 loosely mounted upon the driven shaft 6, the gear wheel 11 being disposed in mesh with a complementary gear Wheel 14 also loosely mounted upon the driven shaft 6, and the teeth of the gear wheel 12 being disposed in mesh with an idler gear 15 which is in turn arranged in mesh with a gear wheel 16 disposed loosely upon the driven shaft 6. The counter-shaft, it will be noted, runs constantly and,the speed or direction at or in which the .dl'iven shaft will be driven will depend upon' which of the gears of the sets of gears 10, 135?";11, 14; 12, 15, 16 are connected to their respective shafts, except that the highest speed in the forward direction is accomplished by directly connecting the driving and driven shaft without the employment-of the intermediate-gear wheels above mentioned as is common in this type of transmission gearing.

The means for connecting the driving and driven shafts together in direct driving relation comprises a jaw clutch consistin of an element 17 secured fast to the drive 3 aft 5, and an element 18 carried by one arm 19 of a frame secured to a shipper rod 20; the said member 18 being arranged to rotate with the driven shaft 6 but permitted a relative lon itudinal or sliding movement thereon. hen the shipper rod 20 is' moved to the left (as viewed in Fig. 1), the clutch.

member 22 being mounted in,- and carried by, an arm 23 secured to the shipper rod 20,-and a clutch comprising 'a member 24 carried by the gear wheel 10, and a complementary member 25 securedto rotate with the shaft 7 but mounted thereon so as to move longitudinally with respect thereto, the said member 25 being also carried by the said arm 23. When the shipper rod 20 is moved to the right as is shown in Fig. 1, the clutch elements 21 and 22, and the clutch elements 24: and 25 are both engaged, thereby locking the gear wheels 13 and 10 to their respectiveshafts. It will be seen that as it requires the'shipping rod 20 to be moved in one direction to connect the parts in high speed driving relation, and in the other direction to connect the parts in the intermediate speed driving relation, it, of course, follows that it will be impossible for a careless operator to connect one set of elements before the other is fully disengaged.

Because it is true that the two clutches 2l22, and 24.-25 may not move into complete engagement at exactly the same moment, I have so mounted the clutch elements 22 and 25 as to permit them to have limited sliding movementsin the arm 23 which carries them, and I have provided stifi helical springs 2627 for forcing them forward.

This permits the operator to positively move the shipping rod forward while allowing the clutch members to spring into position successively as may be necessary. I have also mounted the clutch element '18 in a similar way, the spring 26 being disposed between the two clutch elements 22, 18, and I have provided a follower 28 carried by the arm 19 for engaging the spring 27 at one end thereof whereby to constitute a resist ance device to force the spring against the clutch member 25. I

In addition to the shipper rod 20 I have provided a second shipper rod 29 having thereon two arms 30-31 which carry clutch elements similar to those above described, whereby by moving the shipper rod 29 to the left the wheels 14 and 11 may be secured.

in driving relation with their respective shafts, and by moving the shipping rod 29 to the right the gear wheels 16 and 12 may be similarly connected.

Suitable controlling means, preferably of the selective type, maybe employed for operating the clutches through the medium of the shipping rods 2 029, and as a convenient means for this purpose I have shown a hand lever 32 laterally pivoted to a collar mounted loosely upon a shaft 33, an operating arm 34 mounted fast upon the said shaft, and an operating arm 35 mounted fast upon a sleeve 36. The sleeve 36 is provided with an arm 37 which engages the shipper rod 20 while the shaft 33 is provided with an arm 38 which engages the shipping rod 29. The controlling lever 32 may be deflected to the right or left against'the tension of leaf springs 4142 to cause the same to operatively engage with either of the operating arms, andthus in the subsequent forward and rearward movements thereof to operate either of the shipper rods, and through the shipper rods, the selected clutches. A guide frame 40 serves as a guide for the said lever and limits the movements thereof.

yielding means employed in connection with .the clutch mechanism it will be readily understood that a full movement forward or controlling lever 32 whenever an operating movement is imparted thereto, because should the jaws of the clutches fail to come together promptly the springs will yield to time. It will also be readily understood that in an operating movement of the lever the clutch elements of a set of the clutches may operate successively so that they may come into co-engagement one at a time, in-' stead of being compelled to co-en age simultaneously as would be the case i the yielding means were not employed It will further beseen that all of the parts of the entire structure are simple and strong. The clutch elements, bein of the jaw type, constitute the strongest form of coupling means known. The sliding connection between the coupling elements and the shaft keys and keyways (see Figs. 1 and 2) by arms 1923 and 3031 may be braced together by suitable bolts 43, such as will effectively lend rigidity thereto. What I claim is: '1. In transmission gearing, the combina tion with a shaft and a rotatable element loosely mounted thereon, of a clutch element carried by the said rotatable element, a complementary clutch element mounted upon ranged to slide longitudinally thereon, a carrier for the. latter said clutch element with respect to which the said clutch .element has limited longitudinal sliding movements, means upon the carrier for limiting the sliding movement of the said sliding clutch element with respect thereto, and a spring normally tending to force the said clutch element to the limit of its sliding movement with respect to the said carrier.

2. In transmission gearing the combinaloosely mounted thereon, of clutch elements carried by the said rotatable elements, com: plementary clutch elements. mounted upon the shaft to rotate therewith but arranged to slide longitudinally with respect to the a carrier for the latter said clutch elements ments have limited longitudinal sliding From the foregoing description of the.

permit them to come together at some later carrying them may include a plurality ofwhich great strength is secured, and--th the said shaft to rotate therewith but ar-,

tion with a shaft and rotatable elements with respect to which the said clutch elebackward may be given immediately to the said shaft, and facing in opposite directions,

movements toward each other, and a spring between the two said clutch elements arranged to force them apart to the limit of their movements in such direction in the said carrier.

" 3. In transmission gearing, the combination with a shaft and rotatable elements loosely mounted thereon, of two clutch elements carried by the said rotatable elements, the said clutch elements facing toward each other, complementary clutch elements mounted upon the said shaft between the two first said clutch elements and facing in opposite directions, the latter said clutch elements being arranged to rotate with the said shaft but to slide longitudinally thereon, a shipper rod arranged parallel to the said shaft and mounted to move longitudinally, a car-' rier upon the shipping rod, for the said sliding clutch elements, comprising arms engaging the said clutch elements and permitting limited longitudinal movements of the a said elements with respect thereto, the said clutch elements having shouldered portions for on aging the sides of the said arms to limit t on outward movements, and a helical spring between the two said clutch elements forcing them apart to the limit of their sliding movements with respect to the said carrier and resistin sliding movements thereof with respect to t e said carrier in an opposite direction.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 22nd day of December, 1909.

CLARK W. PARKER. Witnesses:

J. F. MALLEY, GEORGE H. CUMMINGS. 

